05 December 2019 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
English and Welsh HEIs following the progress of the rating revaluation negotiations coordinated by AUDE and undertaken on behalf of the sector by Gerald Eve will be interested in the latest update. After four years of work, the new regime agreed in May this year has formally been accepted by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), in the form of a Memorandum of Agreement. The full details are in a briefing on the BUFDG and AUDE websites, but here’s a summary:
English HEIs - HEIs should now have registered on the VOA’s Gateway Portal; claimed their assessments; and if they appoint agents to represent them, allocated their assessments to their agents accordingly. The VOA has confirmed that when checks are submitted by HEIs against assessments for which the scheme is applicable the VOA will apply the Memorandum of Agreement.
Welsh HEIs - For Welsh institutions the previous appeals system remains in place. The VOA has confirmed that the Memorandum of Agreement will be applied through the process of pursuing a proposal, as with earlier revaluations.
A recorded webinar from Gerald Eve taking us through the latest updates and memorandum of agreement is available for members.
